Motor-driven vehicle.



0. F. FELT Z. MOTOR DRIVFN VEHIBLE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 28,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

1,228,009. Patented May 29,1917.

Cf. F61 bz ,c. F. FELTZ.

MOTOR DRIVEN VEHICLE. APPLICATION FILEIJ FEB. 28, 1916 1,228,009. V vPatent-ed May 29, 1917.

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Y i I I; W AIIII IIIEMIII UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

s GHABLES I. FELTZ; OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TOWM. LE. ANDERSON, ONE-FOURTH 'IO WM, H. LANGIDALE, AND ONE-FOURTH I'OSTONAY L. LANGDALE, ALL OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

MOTOR-DRIVEN VEHICLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 28, 1916. Serial No. 80,997,

' producea simple and inexpensive driving veloped mechanism including amotor and transmission gearing for operating the traction wheels, and anoverrunning clutch device the elements of which are free to'allow thetraction wheels to turn at an excessive rate of speed independently ofthe transmission gearing.

Prior to this invention, motor vehicles,

moreparticularly large delivery trucks, have been provided with wormdriven diiferentlal gearing, the compensating wheels bemg operated by alarge wormgear and a worm The worm 1s fitted to said worm gear. usuallysecured to the drive shaft which extends from the transmission gearingto a point near the rear axle. Low speed and an extremel higlh'degree ofpower may be dey 't e use of adriving device of this kind, but if theworm is designed to provide for the maximum power at the tractionwheels, the latter will not be free to turn independently of the worm.This is due to the fact that the worm will transa hill, and undervarious other conditions,

,the traction wheels tend to turn at an excessive rate of speed and theworm wheel.

then tends to turn the worm. Since movement cannot be readilytransmitted from the worm wheel .to the worm, the axle is sub- -jected"to very severe twisting. strains, and

in practiced have found that the axles of worm driven motor. trucks arefrequently broken by the torsional strains to which they are subjectedin service. Asa result of these conditions, designers of worm .drivendifierientia'l gearing have increased the pitch of the worm threads tosuch an extent that the desired increase of power cannot be obtained,

but even this does not entirely eliminate the severe torsionalstrains atthe axle.

Therefore, one of the objects of my invention is to produce a wormdriven differential gearing, having a worm of any desired pitch, andmeans for transmitting power Patented May 29, 1,917.

from said worm to the traction wheels, the

elements of said means being so constructed and arranged that thetraction wheels are free to turn at an excessiye speed-without in, anyway injuring the axle or worm elements, thereby entirely eliminating thesevere torsional strains, and at the same time allowing-the designer toprovide for the desired increase in power by the use of a worm thatcannot be turned by the worm wheel.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention comprises thenovel con- :struction, combination and. arrangement of A .partshereinafter more specifically described and illustrated in theaccompanying drawln'gs wherei tg s shown the preferred embodiment of theinvention; however, it is to be 1 Fig. II -is an enlarged horizontalsection showing the differential gearing, the axle 1 sectionsoperable bysaid gearing, and a fragment of one of the traction wheels.

Fig. III is an'enlarged section illustrating one of the overrunningclutches.

Fig. IV is an enlarged fragmentary section showing aportion of one ofthe axle sections and one of the clutch rolls secured -to said axlesection.

To illustrate the invention I have shown a motor .M, transmissiongearing T, and traction wheels W operable by said motor and transmissiongearing. Ashaft 1 extending from the motor may be coupled to thetransmission gearingthrough the medium of a clutch G shown in Fig.1. The

transmission gearing may be constructed in any suitable manner and I,therefore, do not deem it necessary to show'or describe all of theelements of this part of the mechanism. The transmission gearing showndiagrammatically in Fig. Iincludes a drive operable by said drivewheel2, said driven shaft being provided with suitable gear Wheels as iswell understood in this art; Gear wheels 5 and 6may be shifted ontheshaft 7 to provide for the transmission of power to the drive shaft 8The reversing device includes a shifter -9 fitted to the gear .wheel 5and adapted to be operated by the usual lever 10, the latter beingmov-ablein the H-shaped slot 11 shown in FigfI. I,

The rear axle preferably comprises a pair of axle sections 12 arrangedin sleeves 13, the outer end ofea'ch axle section 12 being rigidlysecured to one of the traction wheels W. The sleeves 13 do not.turnfwith the axle. 14 designates a housing secured to the innerends ofthesleeves 13.

The differential earing compnses a pair of compensating w eels 15 in theform of bevel gears, mounted on the inner end por- I tions of the axlesections 12..- Pinions 16 -mounted on the -hubs of they com "ensatingwheels15. The pinions 16 are a apted to rotate around the axis of thestuds '17, and the housing-'18 which carries saidstuds is free torevolve around the axis of-the axle,

sections 12.. A worm gear 19, surrounding the housingj18, is secured tosaid-housing by means of a ring-.20 and screws 21 (-Fig.

H). The worm gear 19 meshes with a'wor'rn" 22 (Fi I), arranged in theupper portion 1 of the ousing 14and secured to the flexible driveshaft8.

Power is transmitted from the niotor through the transmission gearing Tdrive shaft '8 to the worm 22 which turns the worm gear 19 around theaxis. of the axle sections 12. The housin to the worm gear 19, carries.t e pinions 16 around the axis of the-axle sections, thus.

turning the compensatinghheels 15. Power is transmitted from thecompensatingg wheels 15 to the axle sectionsl l2 through themedium-of anoverrun ing'clutch device which allows the-traction w eels andaxlesections 'toturn at an excessive rate of'speed Without transmittingmovementto the worm gear 19-. The 'overrunnin clutch device comprises,Ttwp overrunning c utches located atthe in-.

njer-end portionsof the axle section's. Each of these overrunningclutches includes a 'se ries, of rollers 25 arranged directly betweenone :of the compensatingw eels 15.- and the axle section to which sald weel is fitted, the

axle section. having notches for the reception of said rollers, as.shown in Figs. III and- IV. Each roller 25 is arranged in a substantially V-sha ed-ppcket formed by. the

groove in the ax e section and the wheel 15 which surrounds said axlesection. Sprin s 26 tend to force the rollers 25 toward t e itsoperative p bers30 are sp lned to said axle sections, and

contracted pogion of the V-shaped' pockets,

as shown in g. III, thereby forcing said rollers into engagement withthe axle, and also into engagement with the wheel 15 which surrounds theaxle. When the wheels '15 are rotated in" the direction indicated byarrows in Fig. III, power is transmitted from said wheels, through therollers 25 to the axle sections 12.2 It will be noted that the axlesections 12 may be turned at an ex cessive rate of speed in thedirection indicated by arrows'in Fig. III without trans mitting movementto' the compensating wheels 15. Therefore, the traction wheels Wand'axle sections 12 are freeto turn at an ex- -cessive rate of speedwithout transmitting movement to the worm gear 19. By constructing. andarranging the parts in the manner shown, the worm gearing maybe designedto provide for the desired high de-' gree of power at, the. tractionwheels, and theaxle sections 12 will not be subjected to twistingstrains when the traction wheels turnjat an excessive rate of speed.

. Themovement of the differential gearing the compensating wheels 15'are provided with clutch teeth adapted to interlock with I said clutchmembers 30. The ineans for shiftin the clutch members :30 includes apair 0 shifter arms 31', secured to vertical,

shafts 32, the latter being provided at their upper ends with arms Theseanns 33 lie 18, secured -"'a ove the housing 14, as'shown in Fig. I, andthey are connecteda to each other by 'rneanspf toggle links 34; 35designates a connectlng'rod connecting the toggle links 0. the rtversindevice 9. .When the rejversing'device is s ifted to its operativepositi'on, "the' positive clutches are shifted throu h the medium of themechanism just descri ed,ts'o as" to move theclutch members -3(l\intoengagement with the clutch teeth on the compensating wheels 15.

' The rollers 25 of each. overrunning clutch are preferably secured toanaxle section 12 a byJmea-nS of annular retaining members 36 arra ged. 1ngrooves 111 said axle section.

" These annular retaining members surround the reduced ends of therollers 25,"and they prevent said. rollers from dropping into the'ouslng 14 or -sleeve 3.6 when the axle section is applied to or removedfrom the machine.

When the vehicle turns a corner,'-' "one of.

a the traction wheels W runs faster than the other, but both wheels arepositively'driven "may be reversed by shifting the, reversing rod ,protect the by the differential gearing and overrunning clutches. If thedifferential gearing was omitted from the driving mechanism, the

overrunning clutches would not transmit power to both traction wheels inturning corners. These clutches must cooperate with the difl'erenti'algearing to provide for the transmission of ---powerto both tractionWheels when one wheel turns faster than the other. However, eithertraction Wheel is always free to revolve more rapidly than the other,and both traction wheels are free to turn faster than the differentialgearing. I, therefore, obtain all of the advantages of the differentialgearing, and at the same time driving mechanism from injury aspreviously pointed out.

1. In a motor vehicle, driving mechanism comprising tractionwheels anaxle secured to said traction Wheels, differential gearing associatedwith said axle, and an overrunning clutch device providing for thetransmission of power from 'said differential gearing to said axle, saidaxle being free to turn at a higher rate of speedithan the differentialgearing when the overrunning clutch device is in its operativecondition,

and said overrunning clutchdevice bein free-to uncoup'le'said axle fromsaid di feren'tial gearing when the axle turns at an excessive rate ofspeed therebypermittingsaid traction wheels and axle to turnindependentlyof said differential gearing.

2. In a motor vehicle, driving mechanism comprising traction wheels,asectional axle including two axle sections each of which is secured toone of said traction wheels,

' differential gearing associated with said axle sections and anoverrunning clutch device associated with said diiferentlal gearing toprovide for the transmission ofspower to said axle sections; a

3. In a motor vehicle, driving mechanism comprising traction wheels, asectionalfaxle including two axle sections each of which is secured toone of said traction wheels differential gearing associated with saidaxle sections and an overrunning clutch device associated with saiddifi'erential gearing to provide for the transmission of power to saidaxlesections, said overrunning clutch device comprising twooverrunningclutches through which power is transmitted to the axlesections.

4. In a 'motor vehicle, driving mechanism comprising traction wheels,axle sections each of which is secured tonne of said traction wheels,differential gearing associated with said axle sections, a driver for.said differential gearing, andan overrunning.

clutchdevice providin for the transmission of power from said driver,through the differential gearing and to the axle. sections, saidoverrunning clutch device being effective when the speed of thedifferential gearmg s in synchronism with the speed of said axlesections, and the elements of said overrunning clutch devic'e being freeto allow said axle sections to'turn independently of said driver.

5. Ina motor vehicle, driving mechanism comprising traction-wheels, anaxle, differ ential gearing associated with said axle,

transmission gearing, a motor .for o'perating said transmission'gearing,an overrunning vclutch dev1ce providing for the transmission of powerfrom said transmission gearing to said axle, the elements of saidoverrunning free to allow said axle.

clutch device bein to 'turn"'in one direction at an 'excessive rate o fspeed and indepen'dentlyof said transmission gearing, said transmissiongearing being provided with a reversing device ,operable to reverse themovement of' said difi'erential gearing, said overrunning clutch devicebeing ineffective during the last inentionedmovement, and means, underthe control of said reversing device, through which power is transmitted'to said axle when the reversing device is in its operative position.

\ 6. In a motor vehicle, driving mechanism comprising'tractio'n wheels,an axle, difier- ,ential earing associated with said axle,

transmission gearing,;a motor for operating clutch device providing forthe transmission of power fromsaid transmission gearing to said axle,the elements of said overrunning clutch device being freeto allowsaidaxle to turn in one direction at an excessive rate said transmissiongearing, an overrunning ofspeed and independently of said trans misslongearing, said transmission gearing being provided with a reversingdevice 0 A erable to reverse the movement of said diff ferent ial gearin,said overrunning clutch device being ine ective during the lastmentioned movement, and a positive clutch device adapted to besubstituted for said, over running clutch device, said positive clutchdevice bein under'the control of said reversing dev1ce to p ovide forthe transmission 0 power to said axle when the'reversing device occupies'it's operative position.

- In a motor vehicle, driving: mechanism comprising traction, wheels,axle sections each'of which is secured toonef'of said tracoverrunningtransmission gearing, and positive clutches fitted to said axle sectidnsand adapted to be substituted for said overrunning clutches to providefor the transmission of power to said axle sectlons when said reversingdevice occupies 1ts operative position, said positive clutches beingunder the control of said reversing device. v

8. i In amotor vehicle, driving mechanlsm comprising traction wheels,axle sections each of which is secured to oneof said traction Wheels,transmission gearing, a motor for operatin said transmission gearing,and means said transmission gearing to said axle sections, said meansincluding an overrunning clutch device the elements of which are freesto allow saidaxle sections to turn in one direction'at an excessive rateof speed and independently of said transmlsslon gearing, saidtransmlsslon, gearing including a reversing device operable to reversethe movement of said axle sections, said overrunning clutch device beinginefiective during the vlce.

or transmitting power from last mentioned movement, and a pair ofpositive clutches fitted to said axle and adapted to be substituted forsaid overrunning clutch device, said positive clutchesbeing under thecontrol 0 said reversing de- 9.' In a motor vehicle, driving mechanismcomprising traction Wheels, differential gearsaid differential gearingwhen' 'the traction Wheels turn at an excessive rate of speed therebypermitting said traction Wheels to turn independently of saiddifferential gearing.

, CHARLES FELTZ.

